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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Honey-roasted peanut butter and banana crepe

For those people who doubt its existence, deny its presence,
and mock those of us who believe in it, I have news that will shatter your
world. Fun does exist in Cleveland; it’s real and I stand a witness. I even have
photographic evidence that attest to it!

Last Friday I went to the inauguration of Cleveland’s newest
piece of public art at the heart of the theater district. It’s a 20-foot high, 4,200
crystals chandelier, suspended from a 44-foot high steel structure. The piece
is accompanied by a retro signs with the name of the district, Playhouse Square,
and by several arches a la Disney, throughout the square. The ceremony was really
crowded, attended by thousands of people who really were at their best behavior;
I was really impressed. There were so many people, yet everyone was getting
along, no one was cranky or nasty, and people actually organized, on their own,
to alternate the going and going through the enormous mass of people. The crowd
was even kind and mindful of seniors, people in wheelchairs, babies and
strollers, and I’m not aware of a single incident. There was so much energy and
the city felt so alive, that you could feed off it and go on it for days.

Saturday was dedicated to work, but I managed to break free
and went to Severance Hall to see the Cleveland Orchestra perform Mozart’s Requiem.
That chorus really killed it, with what I considered their best choral work in
the last 7 years that I’ve been attending their concerts. Their “world premiere”
of a piccolo concerto, though left much to be desired. My particular desire was
that the composer would have realized she was full of bull, and would have put
the pen down and not put me through that, but that’s just me. Of course, I don’t really have a musical bone
in my body, and my singing probably resembles the sounds of a poor cow in labor
with triplets, so take my music-reviewing with a grain of salt. After the
concert I was joined by my favorite people for some pre-5 de mayo beer drinking
at a really cool pub. ¡Viva la cerveza!

It was a really great weekend, but I was afraid that the
contrast between the pleasurable weekend, and the Monday-morning reality would
crash and make me miserable. So now every time I have a great weekend, I insist
on making my Monday breakfast a bit extra-special to keep it rolling, and start
my week on the right foot. I kept the momentum by making sweet crepes, filled with
honey-roasted peanut butter and bananas. I went BANANAS on them. They were luscious,
filled with all the nutrients I needed to jumpstart my Monday, and yet low on
calories. Plus they were fast and easy to make, and kept the dishes and the
mess to a minimum. Monday was not a drag!

Heat a pan on medium heat. Add cooking spray, and pour ½ the
batter. Cook until the batter is cooked (3-4 minutes), without flipping. Remove
from the pan, spray again, and pour the rest of the batter, cooking until the
batter is cooked (3-4 minutes).

Split the peanut butter and bananas between the two crepes,
saving some for decoration at the end. Spread throughout half of each crepe.
Fold in half, and then in half again. Repeat the process with the second crepe.
Using a sieve, coat the crepes with powdered sugar. Finally, top the crepes
with the saved peanut butter and banana slices.